mcinerney km intro general 10 02

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An Introduction to

Knowledge Management



Objectives for this

sessionTo explore the history & theory ofKnowledge Management (KM)

To understand the controversiesaround KM

To learn about how KM programs are

implemented through different models

To discuss the ideas in the readings



What is Knowledge

Management?

What are your ideas?What have you read?

What have you heard?

What do you imagine?



One Perspective of KM

“KM [Knowledge Management]

involves blending a company’s

internal and external information andturning it into actionable knowledgevia a technology platform.”

Susan DiMattia and Norman Oder in Library Journal , September 15, 1997.



Understanding KM

UnderstandingKnowledgeManagement requires

an understanding ofknowledge and theknowing process andhow that differs from

information andinformationmanagement.



Classic Data to

Knowledge Hierarchy

Wisdom

Knowledge

Information

Data



From Facts to Wisdom(Haeckel & Nolan, 1993)

one example of the hierarchy

Facts

Information

Intelligence

Knowledge

Wisdom

Less is

More

Volume

Completeness

Objectivity

Value

Structure

Subjectivity



Knowledge Management

ModelsDocumentalist

Technologist

Learner & Communicator



History of Information

Professionals as Knowledge

Managers

Knowledge management is a newbusiness strategy, but its techniquescan be traced to the work of

documentalists in the early part ofthe twentieth century.



Documentalists as

Knowledge Managers

In Europe and America in the firstpart of the twentieth century,documentalists had grand visions of

collecting, codifying and organizingthe world’s knowledge for the

purpose of world peace.



Information Professionals as

Knowledge ManagersThe documentalists were the original multimediaprofessionals.

Paul Otlet – began the International Federation forDocumentation. He wanted libraries to stop beingdepositories and to become more dynamic ininformation transfer.

Under the leadership of Otlet the Europeans notonly collected and codified documents, theydeveloped networks and worked to exchangeknowledge among people.



Documentalists and

Special Librarians

Suzanne Briet, sometimes called

“Madame Documentation” drew thecomparison between American speciallibrarians and European documentalistsafter a visit to America in 1954.



Briet & the Documentalists

“In Qu'est-ce que la documentation? Brietbrilliantly defined documents in terms ofindexical signs. In this, she was adopting an

argument that previous documentalists of her

time had suggested and which was present inthe cultural air, as she states, through

„linguists and philosophers,‟ surely in the formof structural linguistics and semiotics.”

Professor Ron Day in the Preface to Qu‟est-ce que ladocumentation?http://www.lisp.wayne.edu/~ai2398/briet.htm

http://www.lisp.wayne.edu/~ai2398/briet.htm

http://www.lisp.wayne.edu/~ai2398/briet.htm



Caution

It would be a mistake,

though, to define KnowledgeManagement as solely thedomain of documents and

documentalists.



KM as a Technological

SolutionIs KM

Big business?

A competitive advantage?

Intellectual capital?

An intranet solution?An asset dimension?

A technological infrastructure?



Contentnets

have a role to play in KM

As knowledge repositories for tacit

knowledge that has been made explicitFor best practices databases

For expert “yellow pages”

Online learning and knowledge sharingKnowledge sharing “boards”



Peoplenets &

Processnets

have a role to play in KMFor group learning applications

To connect individuals with each otherfor mentoring and knowledge sharing

For decision support & decision making

To sense, share, and respond to the“signals” coming from the environment

To capture ideas and turn them intoaction



Caution

It would be a mistake,though, to define KnowledgeManagement as solely the KM

technology infrastructure.



The Challenges of

Electronic Collaboration

in Knowledge Sharing

“Focusing exclusively on the technical issues

of electronic collaboration is a sure way to avery expensive failure.”

“A focus on the people issues dramatically

increases the potential for success.”

David Coleman, IBM Manager, San Francisco in Knowledge Management, a Real Business Guide, London: IBM, nd.



The Learning and

Communication Process Model

Innovation is a way of life

Flexibility and the abilityto act quickly is

necessary in a changingenvironment

New projects can benefitfrom alliances andlearning from in-houseexperts and creativethinkers.



KM: Learning and

Communication Process

In simple language KM is an effort tocapture not only explicit factualinformation but also the tacit information

and knowledge that exists in anorganization, usually based on theexperience and learning of individual

employees, in order to advance theorganization's mission. The eventualgoal is to share knowledge amongmembers of the organization.



Value to

Organization

Organizational

Learning

Active Knowledge

Transfer

Expert KnowledgeBase

Contact Links

Expert Assistance asNeeded

Communities ofPractice Index

Decision MakingTools

Profiles forCustomization

Pushed Reports &News

Collaboration Tools

Repositories

Best Practices

Reports

Documents

Presentation Slides

Tips



So…what is knowledge

management?“Knowledge management (KM) is an

effort to increase useful knowledge

within the organization. Ways to do thisinclude encouraging communication,offering opportunities to learn, and

promoting the sharing of appropriateknowledge artifacts.” McInerney, C. (2002). Knowledgemanagement and the dynamic natureof knowledge. JASIST, 53 (2).



Some other key ideas

• Knowledge as a Social Value

• Knowledge artifacts

• Knowledge as an intellectualactivity & the mind/bodyconnection

• Common knowledge

• Process & things

• KM as a fad McInerney, C. (2002).Knowledgemanagement andthe dynamic natureof knowledge.



“Processing data can beperformed by machine, but only

the human mind can processknowledge or even information.”

Jesse Shera in Machlup and Mansfield‟s

The Study of Information: Interdisciplinary

Messages . NY: Wiley, 1983.



For more information

ASIS KM Websitehttp://www.asis.org/SIG/sigkm/index.html

Brint.com Knowledge Portal

http://www.brint.com/ym.html

Knowledge Management Research Center

http://www.cio.com/research/knowledge/

Karl-Erik Sveiby and Knowledge Associates

http://www.sveiby.com.au/ University of Arizona

http://www.cmi.arizona.edu/research/kno_mgmt/

http://www.asis.org/SIG/sigkm/index.html



http://www.sveiby.com.au/



http://www.sveiby.com.au/



http://www.asis.org/SIG/sigkm/index.html